Permanently attaching applications to workspaces

[hstoellinger]

Hello,
I just did a fresh install of Kubuntu 20.10 on my laptop. Most things work as expected (except the system freezes when I start my favorite browser Vivaldi. Chrome and Firefox both work o.k.!). I have been using 4 workspaces for years now - also on Kubuntu 20.04, "pinning" various types of apps to their respective workspaces (eg. ws1: internet (i.e. browser + e-mail), ws2: office (i.e. libreoffice, gnucash,...), ws3: konsole and kate, ws4: system (system monitor, system settings, log display,...).
With Kubuntu 20.10 I can move the apps around but don't find a way to "fix" this allocation permanently...
Any ideas?
Thanks for any hints
H. Stoellinger

[oshunluvr]

By "workspaces" do you mean desktops or activities or what exactly

[hstoellinger]

I mean virtual desktops

[woodsmoke]

Hi
I quite realize that you apparently like 'virtual desktops" but Kubuntu is natively setup to use "activities".
If one clicks the three horizontal lines at the top right of a desktp one sees a popout on, for me, the left side, which is labled for adding activities.
Click add an activity and it is there , one can apply an appropriate name, such as writing, and can be accessed through the top right button.
However, one can also right click on the desktop and add the other activity there.
and one can move between activities with a mouse scroll, using a combination of keystrokes or right clicking to get the menu for the available activities etc.
One can then go to an activity and invoke an app such as...dunno...Librewriter it will appear on the activity and one can click the top left "symbol" button and attach the application to that activity or to any number of activities or to all of the activities.
Thus one can be in say...'default"... invoke LO there and it will appear in the say..."writing" activity and one then goes to that activity.
Documents created in that activity will also be associated with that activity.

In other words, "an activity" is a greatly enhanced form of "virtual desktop" which greatly enhance workflow.

Just a thought and of little worth.
woodsmoke

[ThorstenNY]

"an activity" is a greatly enhanced form of "virtual desktop" which greatly enhance workflow.

Hmm, interesting perspective.

I’ve always viewed activities and virtual desktops (I use both) as trying to do very different things. Virtual desktops, to me, are basically an extension of window management. I want everything on the virtual desktops (within the the same activity) to be the same, even when I make changes to the panels, background, widgets, whatever.

To use a (poorly thought out) physical world metaphor: I think of virtual desktops as virtually identical folders in a filing cabinet or areas on a physical desk on which to place documents — whereas an activity could be a desk or a filing cabinet or a set of drawers, all looking and behaving quite differently.

But I suppose you can use activities in a way that makes then behave similar to virtual desktops, just with enhanced functionality. ��

[ThorstenNY]

a way to "fix" this allocation permanently...

At least in earlier KDE versions you could do this with Special Windows Settings and/or Special Application Settings, both accessible through a window’s main menu (triggered by left-clicking on the app icon on the upper left).

When I next boot my Groovy installation, I’ll confirm how to do this there.

EDIT: Yep, still works just like that in 20.10.

[woodsmoke]

Hi
you provide an interesting perspective.

I will think on it.

Really,

woodsmoke

Hmm, interesting perspective.

I?ve always viewed activities and virtual desktops (I use both) as trying to do very different things. Virtual desktops, to me, are basically an extension of window management. I want everything on the virtual desktops (within the the same activity) to be the same, even when I make changes to the panels, background, widgets, whatever.

To use a (poorly thought out) physical world metaphor: I think of virtual desktops as virtually identical folders in a filing cabinet or areas on a physical desk on which to place documents ? whereas an activity could be a desk or a filing cabinet or a set of drawers, all looking and behaving quite differently.

But I suppose you can use activities in a way that makes then behave similar to virtual desktops, just with enhanced functionality. ��

[ThorstenNY]

Hi
In other words, "an activity" is a greatly enhanced form of "virtual desktop" which greatly enhance workflow.

Weeeelllll … after being inspired by your thoughts, I started to use activities more. But I found that I really can’t (easily) live without a feature I use with virtual desktops every day: moving the active window to another desktop using a keyboard shortcut. (I have mine mapped to Ctrl-Shift-n, where n is the number of the virtual desktop I want to move the current window to.)

It looks as if there is no way (at least not in systemsettings5) to move a window to another activity using a keyboard shortcut. Am I missing something? Can this perhaps be configured via script/config file?

Thanks!